The Avengers exchanged glances, none of them able to believe what they were seeing.
Such a brutal enemy. Wiped out just like that?
And they'd died so neatly, so uniformly, it was eerie.
Tony steeled himself and ran a scan through his armor on the nearest Chitauri corpse.
"What the hell. No external injuries. Internal organs completely intact..."
"Vital signs were normal too. They just... died."
Lightning, fire, ice , elemental forces like those still fell within their understanding. There were traces, mechanisms, principles they could follow. But that strange green light from moments ago had blown past every boundary of comprehension any of them possessed.
No explosion. No shockwave. Not even a hint of destructive force.
Just a faint flash of green, and then the enemies were all dead.
Neat. Clean. Not a single one had even struggled.
What was that supposed to be?
A mass alien heart attack?
A chill shot from the soles of their feet straight to the tops of their skulls. Their scalps prickled.
"This... what kind of magic is this?"
Thor couldn't stop himself from asking. He was a warrior, and he'd seen plenty of magic in his time , but this silent, invisible killing spell filled him with something he could only call dread. The moment that green light had appeared, he'd felt his own soul shudder.
Like encountering a natural predator.
"Avada Kedavra."
Hermione's voice was soft.
"No wounds. No burns, no frostbite. No flashy effects of any kind. Just one outcome..."
She paused, her gaze sweeping across the Chitauri corpses.
"Those hit by the curse die. Instantly."
"Doesn't matter how strong you are. Doesn't matter how tough your body is. If it hits you, you die."
The Avengers listened, hearts hammering.
Tony swallowed. His throat had gone dry. Since meeting Hermione, he figured he'd seen his share of big moments , but this eerie, soundless killing magic still made his skin crawl.
Hermione's voice cut through the silence again, pulling everyone out of their heads.
"Avada Kedavra is one of the most evil dark arts in existence. Almost impossible to block with any defensive magic."
"Even in the wizarding world, it's forbidden."
She looked at them, her tone serious.
"If those last Chitauri hadn't been so stubborn, I wouldn't have used it."
She shrugged, as if trying to lighten the air.
"But using it once in a while shouldn't be a problem."
She blinked, a sly smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "After all, I am saving the world. You all understand, right?"
Never mind understanding , just the fact that you know this spell is a serious problem, okay?! The Avengers screamed internally.
They turned the words over in their heads. Avada Kedavra. That green light wouldn't leave them. A chill settled deep in their bones, and the looks they aimed at Hermione had shifted into something they couldn't quite name.
Before they'd known Hermione, the word magic had meant wonder. Beauty. Something bright.
Hermione had dismantled that completely.
Was this what Hogwarts taught?
Were wizards just... like this?
Thor went quiet. He'd seen a great deal of the universe, but a spell like Avada Kedavra — something that existed purely to kill — was a first, even for him.
While everyone was still lost in their own thoughts, Hermione's expression shifted. Fatigue settled across her face. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, and somehow that small, drowsy gesture cut right through the unease in the room.
So what if it was dark magic? So what if it was evil?
What they'd seen was Hermione fighting beside them. Protecting Earth.
Power was just power. What mattered was the person holding it.
The super-soldier serum had created Red Skull , and it had created Steve. The Iron Man armor had been turned into a weapon by Obadiah Stane , and it had been turned into a shield by Tony.
Hermione had to be the same. Everyone thought it, silently, in unison.
She used dark magic. She killed without hesitation. But she was a good person.
That was just how it was.
Hermione felt the shift in their emotions and felt a deep, private satisfaction bloom in her chest.
Yes. Dark magic created evil like Voldemort , and it also created people like her, Hermione Granger.
Even more evil.
She checked the portal. Empty. No more Chitauri pouring through. The spawner was dry.
Poor Thanos. Loki had conned him beautifully , he'd walked away without the Tesseract and lost the Scepter. The Chitauri had fallen for Hermione's own scheme, lured in with dreams of conquering Earth, only for the entire army to end up in the Manhattan killing ground , experience points harvested wholesale by one utterly remorseless witch.
Hermione glanced at the magic book.
[Hermione Jane Granger]
[Magic Level lv4 (198473/500000)]
[Dark Harvest]
[Remaining Soul Energy: 395821]
Not bad. The Chitauri were low-quality individually, but sheer numbers had made up for it. Over three hundred thousand Soul Energy in a single harvest. She was satisfied.
More than enough to push to level five.
One minute later.
[Hermione Jane Granger]
[Magic Level lv5 (1/1000000)]
[Remaining Soul Energy: 93754]
I knew it.
She looked at the experience bar for level six and rolled her eyes.
Level five brought a real surge , she could feel it, a tangible expansion of power. But she thought back to what she'd sensed from Dumbledore, and she knew. His magic level was still above hers.
The old man had to be lv6.
Probably old Voldy and Grindelwald too.
Truly in a class of their own. Not just one tier ahead of the wizarding world , more than one.
Still, in the current wizarding world, with Grindelwald's status unknown and Voldemort still floating around as a wraith, she had the strongest magic of anyone active. A full tier above every dark wizard, every professor, every elite Auror.
One tier, yes. But a full tier.
As for who else might be sitting at level five , she had a few guesses. Nothing confirmed yet.
Then Fury's voice crackled through her earpiece, sharp with urgency.
"Stark. A nuclear missile is incoming. Two minutes to detonation."
"What? A nuclear missile?!"
Every face went pale.
They'd won. They'd clearly already won. Why the hell were those people firing a missile now?
Two minutes. No time to evacuate anyone. If that thing detonated over Manhattan, the entire city was gone.
"Damn it! What is wrong with those politicians — are their brains full of garbage?!"
Tony exploded.
Even Steve didn't bother with the language this time. He looked like he wanted to join in.
"Wait!" Tony's head snapped up, eyes fixed on the sky. Something clicked. "I've got an idea!"
Before anyone could respond, the Iron Man armor ignited and he shot skyward.
He was going to push the missile through the portal. Send it straight to the Chitauri homeworld.
But someone was already faster.
Hermione's figure twisted in the air and vanished, reappearing directly beside the missile mid-flight. Her wand tapped it once.
"Fera Verto!"
Under everyone's stunned gazes, the nuclear missile began to change.
A small bird with white feathers drifted down into the open air before them.
➤ Next: Turning Nukes into Pigeons
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